Ditch digger



Dec. 4, 1956 w. M. ISTANSBURY DITCl-l DIGGER Filed Sept.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 William M. Stansbury INVENTOR.

BY WW 8m Dec. 4, 1956 w. M. STANSBURY DITCH DIGGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18.1 1952 n V 0 mm B s M %M .m w m M m United States Patent 2,772,491 DITCH DIGGER William M. Stansbury, Cross Plains, Tex., assignor of fifty percent to Lafayette M. Purvis, Cross Plains, Tex.

Application September 18, 1952, Serial No. 310,195

1 Claim. (Cl. 37--86) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in ditch digging machines adapted for mounting on a tractor and operated by the power take-off thereof.

An important object of the invention is to provide vertically pivoted supporting arms for an endless chain to which the digging blades are attached and including transmission gearing for the chain sprocket arranged to drive the chain in the same direction where the power take-off may be reversedly operated.

A further object is to provide an elongated digger frame around the periphery of which the blades travel and providing means for holding the frame perpendicularly to dig post holes.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of this character of simple and practical construction, which is elficient and reliable in operation and otherwise well adapted for the purpose for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operations as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 3 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the digging unit.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on a line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on a line 5-5 of Figure l, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the gear housing taken on a line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates the frame of the digging unit generally and which is constructed of side plates 6 and 7 each composed of an upper plate 8 and a lower plate 9 overlapping each other and secured in extensibly adjusted position by bolts and nuts 10 passing transversely through both the upper and lower plates and through vertical slots 11 in at least one of the plates. The plates are formed with opposed flanges 12 held spaced from each other to form a slot 13 extending continuously around the frame by means of spacing sleeves 14 on the bolts.

An upper sprocket 15 is secured to a shaft 16 which is journaled in the upper plates 8 and a lower sprocket 17 is journaled on a shaft 18 which is supported by the lower plates 9 and an endless chain 19 is trained over the sprockets at the inside of the frame.

Arms 20 are secured to the links of chain 19 and project outwardly of the frame through slot 13 to travel around the frame and angle iron brackets 21 are welded or otherwise suitably secured to the outer ends of the arms transversely with respect to the arms. A brace rod 22 extends transversely under each arm and is welded at the center of the rod thereto and the ends of the rod "ice are welded to the bracket adjacent the ends of the latter.

A cutting blade 23 is bolted on top of each bracket 21 and is formed with an upwardly inclined outer cutting edge 24.

The brackets 21 bridge the slot 13 in the periphery of frame 5 and travel closely against the sides of the frame to maintain the blades 23 at a uniform cutting depth and to prevent yielding movement of the chain due to cutting pressure subjected to the blades.

One end of upper shaft 16 projects into a gear housing 25 cast or otherwise suitably secured to one of the upper plates 8 of frame 5 and a bevel gear 26 is secured to the shaft and is selectively engaged by bevel gears 27 and 28 at diametrically opposite sides of gear 26. Gears 2'7 and 28 are connected to each other by a sleeve 29 which is secured to a shaft 30 in slidably adjusted position by a pin 31 and openings 32 in the sleeve to engage a selected gear 27 or 28 with gear 26. A shaft coupling 33 connects shaft 30 to a telescoping shaft 34 which is connected to the power take-off 35 of a tractor 36.

A yoke 37 is attached to the upper end of frame 5 and a rod 38 connects the upper end of the yoke to the upper portion of the differential housing 39 of the tractor, to maintain the frame 5 perpendicularly. The rod 38 is provided with a turnbuckle 40.

A pair of arms 41 are pivoted at one end to the lower portion of the differential housing 39 and are pivoted at their other ends to the opposite sides of yoke 37 below brace rod 38. Brace rods 42 extend from the arms 41 to the rear axle housing 43 of the tractor to prevent side sway of the digger frame.

Links 44 connect the arms 41 to the usual hydraulic lifts 45 of the tractor.

In the operation of the device, the cutting blades 23 travel upwardly at one side of frame 5, as shown by the arrow in Figure 1, and travel downwardly at the opposite side of the frame. A trough or chute 46 is secured to the frame and into which dirt from the downwardly traveling blades is emptied to deposit the dirt at one side of the ditch.

In certain types of tractors the power take-off may be driven in a reverse direction from that illustrated herein and in such instances the proper bevel gear 27 or 28 is engaged with the bevel gear 26 to keep the cutting blades traveling in a proper direction.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a ditch digger, a vertically elongated hollow digger rame composed of an upper pair of side plates and a lower pair of side plates and each pair of plates having opposed spaced apart flanges at their marginal edges, said upper and lower pairs of plates overlapping each other in extensibly adjustable arrangement, one pair of plates having vertical slots therein and the other pair of plates having openings aligned with the slots, fastening means in the slots and openings securing the upper and lower pairs of plates in vertically adjusted position relative to each other, spacing members internally of the innermost pair of plates and retaining the opposing flanges spaced from each other to form a slot extending peripherally of the frame, upper and lower sprockets in the frame, an endless chai n trained over the sprockets and traveling inside the frame behind the slot, arms attached to the chain and projecting outwardly through the slot, and horizontal blades carried at the outer ends of the 4 V ghn M y 24, 27 Zuckerman Feb. 18, 1941 South Nov. 22, 1949 Volmer Apr. 1, 1952 Larson et al. July 27, 1954 FQREIGN PATENTS Sweden Sept. 17, 1910 

